The Truth
by Merlinandsimsgirl
Summary: Tess and Fletch have managed to keep their affair under-wraps for now, but when Natalie (Fletch's wife) finds out, a can of worms is opened and it seems Tess and Fletch have to deal with one issue after another. Will they stay together? Or will Fletch end their relationship when the pressure becomes too much? Alittle bit of Tam (Sam and Tom) here too. Rated T just to be safe.
1. Chapter 1- Not such a calm evening

Chapter 1: Not such a calm evening.

A cool summer breeze drifted gently through the streets of Holby. The sun was just beginning to slowly fall toward the horizon. A few birds flew gracefully through the sky. A perfect evening…

…But not for one family.

"Get out of this house you cheating idiot!" A scream ripped the image of perfection from the so far peaceful evening as a door shot open.

"Please! Let me explain! I couldn't keep this from you! I didn't want to upset you!" A male voice replied, clearly upset. He came into view as he was pushed out of the front door to the house.

"Just get out of my sight!" The female voice replied with pure anger lacing her voice like poison. A large suitcase was thrown out the door as the man got to his feet.

"Natalie! Please! Don't do this!" The man scrambled to get up.

"Mummy, what's going on?" A young child asked. The front door slammed.

Fletch finally got to his feet. Tears were evident in his eyes. He should've known telling his wife about Tess was a bad idea. He looked up to the window where he saw his eldest son looking at him. He too was upset. Fletch knew he had heard, but he wasn't sure what he was thinking. His son disappeared from view.

Not knowing what to do, Fletch looked to the suitcase. Swallowing hard, he picked it up, wiped the tears away from his eyes and trudged down the driveway as an idea popped into his head. He just hoped his idea would not fail him…


	2. Chapter 2- Flashbacks

Chapter 2: Flashbacks

As Fletch shuffled slowly down the road, he saw a Vauxhall parked opposite and suddenly, he remembered his very first day working at the Holby Emergency Department…

"_Who?" Came a voice unknown to Fletch._

"_Fletch!" A more familiar voice replied, Tess. Fletch didn't have to turn around. He could recognise his boss' voice quite easily, despite only meeting her a few weeks ago. He was fiddling around with the engine of a car, with the bonnet up and was wearing some scrubs and medical gloves to avoid contact with any oil._

"_Oh the state of this engine Tess!" He voiced, still looking in the bonnet of the car as he heard footsteps approaching._

"_You know I had you down as a boy racer or something!" He added, looking concerned. Tess frowned worriedly at his comment, wondering if her car was actually in a much worse state than she had thought._

"_Is it really that bad?" She asked as she observed Fletch's genuine looking expression. He couldn't cause her any more distress, deciding to end his little practical joke there. He grinned cheekily before answering her:_

"_Nah! I'm only messing! It's in pretty good nick actually! I already fixed that rattle for ya!" Fletch grinned at her, forgetting there was another person standing there, who actually looked rather bored and annoyed. _

"_So quickly?" Tess was amazed and couldn't help laughing at Fletch's behaviour- he really had fooled her back there!_

"_Nothing to it really!" Fletch smiled back, relived to see his new boss had a sense of humour. It was then that Tess remembered she had actually come to find Fletch because Lloyd wanted to meet him- something he was supposed to do a good hour ago._

"_Fletch this is Lloyd!" Tess introduced her colleague to the new nursing recruit. Fletch grinned and held his hand out. Lloyd turned his nose up at the oil-covered gloves, and hesitated to shake Fletch's hand. Realising why the other nurse was not so sure, Fletch ripped the gloves off and then the pair shook hands._

"_Nice to meet you mate!" _

"_I've got an induction planned." Was Lloyd's unfriendly reply as his brow furrowed; unsure if he liked this new nurse. Fletch, noticing the more professional attitude this nurse had, suppressed a laugh before answering,_

"_Oh, well, I kinda just got stuck in really!" He shrugged, before firing a quick and cheeky wink in Tess's general direction. There was a slight awkward silence between the three of them. Tess looked down, her smile fading._

"_Right, well…" Lloyd's frown became more evident. He looked to Tess briefly and then back to Fletch, "I'll see you back in there." Fletch grinned widely. Lloyd walked off, back inside the E.D. Tess walked around Fletch without looking at him before telling him:_

"_He does like to take things seriously!" _

"_Oh, you never would have guessed!" Fletch replied sarcastically, shaking his head. Tess couldn't help herself and began chuckling as she hurried back toward the E.D. Fletch closed the bonnet of her car and watched as she walked away…_

…Fletch snapped out of his daze as someone jumped into the car and drove off. He still had some tears sitting in his eyes, making his vision ever so slightly blurry. Wiping them away with the back of his hand, he turned and continued to walk to his destination. He had to walk past his place of work, Holby E.D. The hospital had so many memories locked inside, but it wasn't this that sparked another flashback. Fletch's eyes drifted slowly to outside the pub not much further away. Suddenly, Fletch felt the sharp feeling of cold in the winter. He could hear Christmas songs playing in his head- despite it being the middle of summer- and then it was followed by another past vision…

_Fletch exited the pub to find Tess. He looked around. She sat just outside, holding a glass of wine in her hand._

"_There you are!" He smiled when he saw her, and she smiled back. He sat down next to her, before rubbing his hands together, realising the rather strong chill in the night air. Christmas music was blasting out the pub. Even though the thick walls muffled the sound, it was still easy to tell which song was playing._

"_So, did you tell her that you're going to be all on your own? Because, I bet she wouldn't want that if she knew!" He asked, looking at her. Tess looked to the floor slightly._

"_She asked me to spend Christmas with her and her boyfriend…" Tess replied. Fletch grinned, pleased Tess would be spending time with her family over Christmas._

"…_but I said no." Ah. Ok. She wasn't spending Christmas with her family. Fletch frowned, confused as to why Tess would refuse._

"_Why?" He asked, bewildered. Tess took a deep breath as she tried to think of a way to explain._

"_You know, every Christmas Eve, she would sneak downstairs to try and catch Santa, and I would tell her that Santa is too quick! Then before I knew it, she wanted to spend Christmas with her mates… kids grow up… she wouldn't want me around…" Tess admitted. Fletch leaned closer before replying:_

"_She wouldn't have invited you if she didn't!" The pair shared a look, though Tess smiled sadly as though she didn't believe Fletch._

_Suddenly, a man with dark skin walked up to the pair merrily. He had white hair and a white beard. He wore a thick winter coat and scarf. In one had he held a bottle of what could have been Brandy and in his coat pocket was a sprig of mistletoe._

"_You never told me you kept such fine company!" He grinned at Fletch as he observed Tess._

"_Who's your friend?" Tess asked, chuckling quietly into Fletch's ear. Fletch just laughed warmly._

"_Tyrone Brathwate! Or otherwise you English would say, Tyrone Brathwait!" The man replied, changing to his best possible British accent as he pronounced his name a second time. He held his head up proudly, smiling at Tess._

"_Tess Bateman!" Tess replied, raising her glass as she introduced herself._

"_You know, we need something warm on this cold Christmas Eve!" Tyrone began. Then he removed the sprig of mistletoe from his coat pocket._

"_I've always had a thing for light skinned girls!" He added, pecking the mistletoe and eyeing Tess. Fletch struggled not to laugh loudly, managing to just let out a mere chuckle. Tess also smirked herself. Then she sighed, placing her wine glass down on the cold pavement and stood up. Fletch raised his eyebrows as he watched her walk up to Tyrone. Surely she wasn't going to kiss him was she? He had to see this! Tyrone leant forward, puckering his lips. Tess, feeling uncomfortable about kissing a stranger- no matter how friendly he seemed- and so leant to the side and pecked him on the cheek._

"_Merry Christmas!" She added. Tyrone grinned._

"_That's what I'm talking about, man!" He replied. Then he looked down to Fletch._

"_I wouldn't want to leave you out!"_

"_Well, you're not kissing me, mate!" Fletch replied jokingly and Tess erupted with laughter. Tyrone also laughed slightly, realising how awkward that must have sounded._

"_Share the love!" Tyrone lifted his hand and gestured toward Tess, "Christmas is a time for giving!" Tess managed to control her laughter, though still had a joyful smile plastered across her face, and she raised her eyebrows when she realised what Tyrone was suggesting. _

_Fletch stood up, shrugged his shoulders and turned to Tess. Tyrone held the mistletoe above their heads and watched. Fletch cleared his throat and gingerly placed his hands gently either side of Tess. They both smiled at each other; in disbelief they were actually doing this. Fletch leant in quickly, though Tess flinched and backed away causing them both to giggle. This situation probably was a little awkward. Tess shook her head. Then they both leant in and shared a small kiss. They pulled away and looked to one another for a moment. The mood was starting to change. It wasn't friendly anymore; it was getting more romantic as they continued to stare at one another in silence. Their smiles were fading. If they weren't careful, things could start to get worse._

_All of a sudden, Tyrone groaned and he fell to the floor, his bottle of alcohol smashing as it impacted the ground. Fletch was the first to snap out of the experience as he heard the __**thud **__noise on the ground and Tess followed seconds later. They both ran to where he had collapsed and began to shake him gently to try and wake him up._

"_Tyrone! Tyrone!" Tess called his name, hoping he might respond._

"_You alright there mate?" Fletch asked concerned._

"_Get off me! Get off me! Ah!" Tyrone cried out clearly confused and distressed after his fall._

"_No it's ok! We're here to help!" Tess replied, glad that she and Fletch were medically trained. _

"_Calm down, its ok!" Tess reassured him. Fletch felt Tyrone's forehead._

"_Oh, he's really sweaty!" He exclaimed and looked to Tess._

"_Diabetes?" Fletch questioned Tess. It was a possibility._

"_Have you got any medication on you Tyrone?" Tess asked. However, getting an answer out of the poor man was unlikely as he was still panicky and unsure._

"_Hyperglycaemia?" Fletch voiced and Tess nodded._

"_Right, wait there!" Fletch told her and jumped up before sprinting up the road to the E.D. It had to be one of the few times having the hospital located close to the pub was actually a good thing! Fletch opened the doors to an ambulance and jumped in, unintentionally startling the driver!_

"_It's alright Liz! It's only me!" Fletch told the paramedic whom calmed down when she realised who it was._

"_Listen, I've got a patient who's having a hypo outside the pub, and I just need to grab a few bits if that's alright!" Fletch asked._

"_Yeah sure, help yourself!" The paramedic replied and Fletch immediately began taking the correct medication and equipment from the cupboards in the spotless vehicle._

"_Sorry about the mess!" Fletch added before he leapt back out of the ambulance and dashed back to where Tess was trying to awaken Tyrone._

"_Tyrone! Tyrone!" Tess was trying her hardest to get Tyrone conscious again. She kept glancing up to see Fletch as he began getting closer and closer._

"_He's completely out! I can't wake him!" Tess exclaimed shaking her head as Fletch came back and knelt down next to Tyrone._

"_Right okay, I've got the immune inject, can you put a line in?" Fletch asked Tess as he gave her some gloves and basic equipment. Tess hurriedly put on the gloves._

"_Ok lines in!" Tess spoke as she put a line in. Fletch then injected some medication into Tyrone and he almost immediately came round. He was still confused as he tried to remember exactly what happened. He saw two people looking down on him and smiling friendly. He recognised them, and realised they were no threat._

"_You're going to be alright mate!" Fletch grinned, quite relived that Tyrone was okay. He was a jolly fellow; the world needed more positive people like him._

"_Sorry for ruining your night out!" Tyrone apologised._

"_It's alright! I'm like a Christmas elf, only taller!" Fletch assured Tyrone. The paramedics arrived with a trolley._

"_Alright mate, these nice paramedics are going to take you now." He explained, then he began to tell the paramedics vital information._

"_Is there anyone we can call for you?" Tess asked gently when Fletch had finished giving information to the paramedics._

"_Yeah, you mentioned a daughter mate?" Fletch added._

"_She died…" Tyrone responded. There was a silence of shock and sadness, "Enjoy this Christmas while you can!" He added seriously, not wanting to cause misery._

"_Now take me for that M.O.T." He joked and the awkwardness lifted._

"_He's all yours!" Fletch told the paramedics, and with that, Tyrone was wheeled away into the E.D._

_Slowly, Fletch and Tess stood, feeling slightly unsure as they remembered what had happened just before Tyrone passed out. Fletch placed an arm around Tess. She tensed slightly, though relaxed after a few seconds. They didn't look at each other for a while. Then Fletch broke the silence._

"_So?" He asked quietly. Tess turned toward him._

"_Yeah, I'm going to call her." Tess smiled happily at Fletch and he smiled back. Their attention snapped to the carol singers who had just started singing 'Silent Night' behind them. Then Fletch went back inside the pub so that he could leave Tess in peace to call her daughter._

_Inside, the E.D. staff were just getting ready to call it a night and go home. The taxi had arrived so Charlie had made himself responsible by making sure all the staff that were tipsy or worse were looked after and were going to get home safely._

"_Did you find Tess?" He asked Fletch._

"_Yeah… she's on the phone!" He replied honestly, grabbing his coat. He looked over to Lloyd (now one of his best friends) and noticing he was in the company of a lady decided to leave him in peace and talk to him in the morning._

All of a sudden, the sound of a siren blasted through the air as an ambulance shot by. Fletch was pulled back to reality once more. He shook his head, turned and began to walk again. Some people eyed him, confused as to why he was wheeling a suitcase down the road, but no one seemed to ask what was wrong. Fletch felt as though he was shrinking to the size of a mouse. He'd made one of the biggest mistakes of his life… the only problem was, he couldn't stop loving his wife **or **Tess! If only they had never kissed that night after they'd been for a drink at the pub…

_Giggling to themselves at each other's rubbish jokes, Tess and Fletch exited the pub. Although, it seemed the jokes had only become funny enough to laugh about __**after **__the second glass of wine. It had been a long day, and it was Fletch who had suggested going for a drink. It was nothing serious, more just a friendly night out to make up to Tess for his mistakes about not being strict enough with Aofie (He was rather shocked himself when he found the valentines card in his locker, but being the practical joker he was, he had put it down to someone having a laugh). _

_As a taxi drove past, Tess put her hand out so that she could go home and rest after the long day she'd had._

"_Thanks Tess!" Fletch suddenly exclaimed. A little stunned and confused by what her colleague was thanking her for._

"_What for?" She asked._

"_Oh, just for pointing me in the right direction with Aofie… putting up with me!" He began, causing Tess to suppress yet another chuckle. Fletch opened the door to the taxi for her._

"_And… you know what? Pretty much you… you just being you!" Fletch leaned on the taxi and shrugged his shoulders as he finished. Tess smiled._

"_Goodnight." She said quietly._

"_Night." Fletch replied. It was then that something interesting happened that neither of them would forget in a while. They leant in to kiss each other goodnight, just in a friendly way, but ended up pecking each other on the lips. It was quick and both Tess and Fletch felt shocked that it had happened. For a moment they just stared at each other, unsure of what to do. Fletch's eyes skipped between Tess's eyes and her lips. Then he leant in again and they shared a much more passionate kiss._

_When they parted, there was a sense of awkwardness in the air. Without another word, Tess climbed inside the taxi and Fletch shut the door. They looked o each other through the window, then Tess looked to the driver, told him her address so she could go home, and the taxi drove away, leaving Fletch standing there speechless._

Fletch continued walking. He was trying to think of something to keep his mind away from his current situation, but the continuous sound of the suitcase wheels rolling over the pavement, and the heaviness of his broken heart wasn't allowing him to do so.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, he arrived at his destination. It was a fairly small house, with a small path leading the dazzling white front door. Slowly, he shuffled up the path, wiping the large tear running down his cheek and stood for a moment. He hoped his decision wouldn't cause him more grief. Fletch could feel his hand shaking as he reached up to ring the doorbell. He heard it ring inside. After what seemed like an age, the door opened.

"Hey." Fletch managed as he swallowed hard trying not to break down into nothing.

"Hey! Are you alright?" Tess's voice replied, sounding extremely concerned as she noted Fletch's normally cheeky face replaced with a desperately sad one. Then she saw the large suitcase he was trying to hide and it dawned on her what had happened. Fletch winced, not sure what her reaction would be.

"Come on, I'll make you a cup of tea." Tess sighed sympathetically. She moved away from the door so that Fletch could go inside.


	3. Chapter 3- Sympathy

Chapter 3: Sympathy

Sipping the scolding hot tea, Fletch closed his eyes as he tried to relax. Tess sat down carefully at her dining table with her own mug of coffee. She stayed silent, allowing Fletch some time to think. After being clinical nurse manager for many years, Tess had a lot of experience and knew a lot of people required time to absorb recent events- particularly large ones.

After ten minutes, Fletch was calmer than when he had arrived. He'd gulped down two cups of tea and was on his third.

"Thanks." Fletch sighed.

"It's alright. It's very difficult. Do you want to talk about it?" Tess asked, gently placing her hand on his arm as he leant on the table. Fletch thought for a moment.

"Nah. It's alright." He replied.

"It might make you feel better to talk to someone… and I'm willing to listen if you want to!" Tess insisted. She couldn't force him to go into detail about how his wife had found out about their affair, but she was sure it would make him feel better if he talked about it. Almost knowing Tess wouldn't let him get away with bottling it up; Fletch sighed and began to explain how his wife had found out.

"We were sitting at the table having dinner. Ella, Mikey and Evie were cracking jokes; laughing and generally having a good time. Afterwards, Mikey went up to his room to play video games like he always does and Ella and Evie went to play with their dolls. Natalie and I were on our own. The next minute she goes: 'So who's this Tess then?' and I didn't know what to say. So I just tell her honestly 'She's my boss' and Natalie raises her eyebrows and takes a mobile out of her pocket… _my mobile_… and says: 'I think she's more than that, isn't she?' and finds the messages we sent each other the other week. She got really angry. Before I knew it, we were having a massive row and she opens the front door and pushes me out and throws out a suitcase that she's already packed. The last thing I heard was Evie saying 'Mummy what's going on?' My kids must be so disappointed in me, and as for my wife…well… we both knew she wasn't going to be in the best mood if she ever found out." Fletch took a deep breath as he finished.

"I'm sorry." Tess replied, "I'm so, so sorry."

"No Tess. You have nothing to be sorry for. It isn't your fault at all. There were several times when I was flirting with you or something and you'd tell me it was inappropriate or that we shouldn't be doing things." Fletch interrupted.

"How long do you think it will take for the whole E.D. to know?" Tess asked, a little worried as she wondered what the reaction of the staff would be- particularly Zoe.

"I don't know." Fletch answered. Then he swallowed hard before looking over at Tess.

"I need to ask a favour." He looked nervous again.

"Okay…" Tess looked back suspiciously.

"Can I stay here? Just for a few days." Fletch's eyes were still wet and red with all the tears that had leaked from them. He bit his lip as he awaited an answer.

"I've got a spare room. You can stay as long as you like." Tess smiled reassuringly. Then she stood and gestured for him to follow so that he could unpack his belongings.


	4. Chapter 4- Phone Call

Chapter 4: Phone call:

It had been a few days since Tess had allowed Fletch to stay. He'd been a very good house guest, occupying himself with anything he could to avoid thinking about his family and what they might be thinking about him. He'd do the cleaning or the washing, even though Tess had insisted she could do it. Fletch wanted to show his gratitude to Tess for letting him stay.

It was the weekend and Fletch wasn't at work as the hospital wasn't particularly busy. Tess had to go in because Zoe had asked her to. Fletch was just sitting down, a little bored to be honest. Normally he'd be playing video games with Mikey, or telling stories about his job to the girls- missing out the gory parts of course! But without his three kids, he hardly had anything to do except drum his fingers on the beech wood table whilst reading an old magazine he'd found in the draw.

After reading the whole thing back to back three times, Fletch sighed, fed up of reading celebrity gossip (which never interested him in the first place) and threw it in the bin. It was three whole months out of date anyway.

All of a sudden, his mobile began to ring. Fletch hesitated. He wasn't sure who it would be. He took it out of his back pocket and looked at the screen.

'Mikey- incoming call'.

His son was calling him! Fletch grinned at the thought of talking to one of his children and instantly accepted the call.

"Mikey!" He exclaimed happily.

"Hey Dad." A slightly sombre voice replied.

"How are ya?"

"Awful."

"What? Are you sick?" Fletch asked, concerned.

"No. Mum told us what happened…" There was a long pause before either of them spoke.

"How could you Dad?" Mikey finally broke the silence.

"Mikey, it's not that simple. I never wanted to hurt you or your Mum, or Ella or Evie mate. I love you all, it's just very complicated." Fletch expressed, hoping his son might understand, just a tiny bit.

"No, Dad. There isn't anything complicated about it! You cheated on Mum! You're married! You had a flaming affair for God's sake!" Mikey exclaimed.

"I'm sorry Mikey. But please, forgive me. As I said, I didn't want to hurt anyone, and I completely regret everything. Just please don't disown me, I still love you mate." Fletch was trying his hardest to keep it together. It broke his heart to know his son was angry with him to.

"I'd never disown you Dad. I'm just confused and upset and… oh look I've got to go. If Mum knows I phoned you, she'll blow her top!" Mikey sounded nervous.

"Alright. But thanks for calling anyway. And tell the girls that daddy still loves them a lot".

"I will."

"Bye Mikey."

"Bye Dad."

The call ended. Silence engulfed the room. The fact Mikey had called, gave Fletch hope his family hadn't completely given up on him. He put his phone back in his pocket and jumped when the door to the house burst open revealing a very distressed looking Tess…


	5. Chapter 5- Shock

Chapter 5: Shock.

"You're… you're pregnant?" Fletch couldn't believe his ears. Tess nodded. She was trying to keep calm, though it was very difficult.

"That's… That's brilliant!" Fletch hugged Tess tightly.

"How?" Tess backed away, "How is it brilliant Fletch? _We've_ had an affair, _you're wife_ has kicked you out, you might not see your other three kids again and now I'm pregnant!" She ran her fingers through her hair.

"Tess… I'm sorry it's just… I love kids…" Fletch whispered.

"So do I… but I never thought I'd become a mother now. That time has been and gone! Don't you think I'm a bit old to be pregnant?" Tess asked.

"No. No I don't… and we'll work something out anyway. How did you find out?" They both stared at each other and then Tess sat at the dining table, beckoning Fletch to sit opposite her. She took a few moments and then began to explain…

_Tess was very worried. For the second month, she hadn't had her monthly bleed and it was beginning to bother her. She had actually wondered if she was going through her menopause as she was old enough to go through that now. The only thing was, she hadn't got any other symptoms such as hot flushes; headaches or sudden mood changes. Biting her lip, she wondered if it was worth going for a test of some sorts to see if it was what she hoped it was._

_After 15 minutes of searching resus, the cubicles and the staff room, Tess finally found Zoe sitting in her office. She knocked on the door, causing the clinical lead to jump in her seat. When she saw who it was, she smiled and waved her in._

"_Hi Tess, are you alright?"_

"_Yeah, I was just looking for you I need to discuss something a little private." Tess replied after making sure the door was shut and no one could hear her._

"_Ok, have a seat." Zoe replied._

"_I'm… I'm wondering if I'm going through my menopause…" Tess began._

"_Well, you are at an age where it can happen." Zoe smiled._

"_Can I have a test or two to make sure?" Tess asked._

"_Of course, if it's really bothering you that much." Zoe reassured her colleague and friend. Zoe stood and beckoned Tess to follow._

"_I'll get some tests organised." She told her._

_A few hours later, after Tess had had some tests, she paced around trying to find a patient or something to occupy herself to stop herself from worrying. Then she saw Zoe approaching. She was smiling as she held a report in her hand, but despite this, her emotions and thoughts were unreadable. This concerned Tess even more._

"_I've got your results; do you want to come to my office?" Zoe whispered quietly to avoid anyone over-hearing. Tess nodded and the two went into Zoe's office._

_Perching on the desk, Zoe grabbed a piece of paper with the results on._

"_The good news is that it's not the menopause." Zoe began as she handed the paper to Tess. Practically snatching it, Tess skimmed the page and her face continued to grow with concern. Zoe watched as Tess read the report, seeing the worry increase upon Tess's face._

"_I didn't even know you were dating!" Zoe told her calmly._

"_I'm pregnant?" Tess was in disbelief._

"_Yeah… you are, and I can assure you it's nothing else, the tests proved that. How long has it been since your last period Tess?" Zoe was also in disbelief, but she had to ask these questions._

"_Two months." Tess replied in the tiniest voice you could ever hear. There were tears in her eyes… this was the last thing she needed._

"_Now, I'm not being nosy, and you don't have to tell me if you don't want to… but do you have any idea who the father is?" Zoe questioned. Tess nodded but refused to tell Zoe the name._

"_Can I go home? Just so I can take this all in?" Tess whimpered._

"_Yeah, we're not too busy today, but I'll call you if we need extra staff, ok?" Zoe cleared her throat and sat back down in her chair. Tess went to leave but just before she opened the door, she turned back._

"_Zoe?" She asked._

"_Yes?"_

"_Keep this quiet for me."_

"_Of course."_

"… and that's how I found out…" Tess finished.

"Right." Fletch replied. There was a very long silence; neither of them said a word.

"…So, I guess we're going to have to come clean with everyone aren't we?" Fletch swallowed hard."

"Unfortunately… yes."


	6. Chapter 6- The announcement

Chapter 6: The announcement.

Nervously, Tess walked up to the front of the hospital. She got within 10 steps of the door to reception before turning around and attempting to run away.

"No! No, I can't do this Fletch! I can't tell them!" She panicked as she tried to escape. Fletch gently grabbed her by the arm.

"Tess! Calm down! I know they'll all find it shocking, but… well, it's you isn't it? They're not going to stare at you like your something nasty on the pavement if that's what you're thinking about. They respect you, and they're your friends. They might be a little wary about you for the first few days, but then they'll realise how stupid they're being and it'll all go back to normal." Fletch whispered almost soothingly.

"Can we do it gradually? Just tell Zoe first?" Tess asked, biting her lip.

"If you're ok to buy her drinks to get her over the shock then I don't see why not!" Fletch grinned cheekily. Tess pretended to hit him on the shoulder, and then Fletch laughed, and without thinking, kissed Tess.

Neither of the pair was bothered by anything until they heard a gasp… and then a voice whispering "Oh my god!" which was followed by an uncomfortable silence that caused the air to freeze around them.

Knowing that they'd both been caught out, Fletch and Tess slowly pulled away from one another without looking at each other, or at the person standing to the side. Tess began wringing her hands, and Fletch began to bite one of his finger nails. They took their time turning around to face the person who had discovered them- mainly because they knew who it was.

"You two, in my office. Now!" Zoe's unreadable tone was as scary as the thought of having to go into her office to explain what was going on…

"So, wait, slow down and let me get this straight. You mean to say that you two have been having an affair?" Zoe leant on her desk, her head turning to face Fletch and then Tess every few seconds. Tess, who was looking at the ground nodded subtly before replying:

"Yes."

"And… the baby… is… his?" Zoe asked, not believing the events that were unfolding in front of her.

"We believe so." Tess sighed. The room was engulfed by silence. Zoe clasped her face in her hands as she took this information in. After a while, her attention turned to Fletch.

"Does Natalie know?" She asked. Fletch swallowed hard as the very event of his wife finding out haunted his mind once more.

"She found out a few days ago." He mumbled, not looking at the clinical lead.

"Is that why you wanted to keep the fact that you're pregnant hushed Tess?" Zoe questioned calmly. Tess nodded. She didn't know what to say- neither did Zoe or Fletch for that matter. Silence was within the room once more. No one said a word, just kept looking to each other, the ceiling and the floor.

The incredibly awkward atmosphere was interrupted when there was a loud knock at the door.

"Come in." Zoe shouted.

Sam's head popped round the door.

"I'm not interrupting anything?" Sam asked. Zoe caught Tess's eye and then looked back to the doctor.

"No not at all. What is it?" Zoe smiled as reassuringly as she could. She then noticed Tom, who was standing close behind Sam.

"We just wanted to announce…" Sam looked to Tom who prompted her to continue.

"…we're engaged!" Sam smiled excitedly. It had been a while since anyone had seen Sam smile in such a beautiful and genuine way. To see their friend and colleague so happy, the trio instantly applauded, offering their congratulations to the two doctors. Fletch's smile faded however, hoping that Sam and Tom would make it through thick and thin, and that neither of them would make the mistakes he did- he was still puzzled into how he was going to fix the massive mess he had created. Tom and Sam nodded before leaving the room.

Slowly, the door to the office closed. The awkwardness slowly returning as the space became quiet once more.

"So, are you two going to announce your news? Or are you going to keep quiet about it?" Zoe's eyes flicked between Fletch and Tess. The pair looked to one another before Fletch replied:

"We're going to keep it quiet… for now at least. I want an opportunity to set things right." He stood from his chair, looking between the two ladies, managed a weak smile and then left in a hurry.

Zoe waited until Fletch had left before turning to Tess.

"What are you going to do?" She asked.

Tess hesitated for a moment, "I'm going to get rid of it." She sighed.

"What?" Zoe was hoping Tess wasn't suggesting…

"I'm going to get rid of the baby."


	7. Chapter 7- Battle Wounds

Chapter 7: Battle wounds

It was a bleak Monday morning. Fog sat on the streets causing drivers to require the fog lights on their cars, and their wits about them to avoid any accidents. The rain had just started to gently fall to the ground as Fletch silently left Tess's house. They both had a day off, and Tess had stressed she had been exhausted, but Fletch needed to do something first. He had shrugged on a warm fleece and zipped it up so that his neck was barely visible. Unfortunately, he didn't have a waterproof coat, so as the rain got heavier, he got wetter and wetter.

He walked down the street with his hands in his pockets and his shoulders hunched to try and keep as war as he could on this dismal day. As he reached his destination, he took a deep breath in and stopped to look at the fairly large house in front of him. It was a four bedroom house that was fairly new- only having been built seven years ago. He smiled to himself as some of the greatest memories came back to him. As the wonderful images faded from inside his head, he lost his smile and cleared his throat. Carefully, he walked up the rather clean paving leading up to the decorative door. He no longer had the luxury of possessing a key, so he hesitated for a moment before knocking three times on the wood and awaiting an answer.

After a few moments, the door slowly opened and revealed a cautious lady behind it. Her eyes were red and sore from the gallons of tears that had poured from them, smearing her normally neat and discreet make up. Her hair was messy as though she had, had a rough night and not bothered to brush it. She frowned angrily and went to shut the door hurriedly, but Fletch calmly placed his hand on it to stop her. He was now drenched from head to toe, his hair literally stuck down on his head it was so wet. He shivered slightly as he felt the cold continuously sweep through him. He arched his eyebrows worriedly.

"Please let me in Natalie." He pleaded his wife. His breathing was heavy, as he was getting worked up himself.

"I didn't think I'd see you again." was the icy reply he received.

"Well, I'm here." He sighed, "Are the kids in?" he asked quietly.

"No, they're all at school where they should be." Natalie muttered.

"Look, I just want to talk Natalie. This is the biggest mistake I've ever made, and I wish… I wish I could go back in time and change everything but I just can't. Please, just let me in!" Fletch begged as he sniffed hard. Natalie, who was still guarding the door, looked her husband up and down. Then she rolled her eyes, sighing deeply, and stepped aside to let Fletch in the house.

Meanwhile, Tess was just stirring from her sleep. It was about quarter past nine in the morning although for once she didn't seem to care how late it was. Stretching she sat up. Unfortunately, she felt nauseous again and had to leap from the bed and dash to the bathroom to avoid making a mess. This event reminded her she was carrying a baby in her womb, and she groaned at the thought. After flushing away the not so pleasant contents, Tess washed out her mouth with water from the tap and padded her way across the landing to the spare room… only to find it empty. Frowning, she quickly walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. On the dining table sat a small plate boiled egg and soldiers with a note attached to the plate. Tess took the small piece of paper and read the small message written on it:

_I know this is a favourite of yours at the moment, so bon-appetite! I've just popped out, though I might be a few hours_. _Don't worry! I'll be back soon!_

_Adrian – xxx_

Tess chuckled to herself when she noted Fletch had signed the note with his real first name. Why he didn't like his name, Tess would never know, as she thought it was a rather nice name and fit Fletch perfectly- but that was just her opinion. She sighed when she remembered the conversation she had with Zoe the previous evening…

_Zoe was shocked at Tess's decision. Admittedly, it was a very stressful and hard time for Tess, finding out she was pregnant with a baby whose father was married to another woman, but Zoe couldn't let Tess go through with the decision._

"_Tess! Are you mad? Even if the circumstances of how you… oh, well never mind, but the point is, you need to think about this! You can't just instantly go with the first thing that comes into your head!"_

"_It wasn't the first thing that came to my head Zoe! I've already ruined Fletch's marriage and possibly even the contact with his three kids who he adores so much!"_

"_So… you don't think he'll adore this baby too?" Zoe countered._

"_Yes! No… I don't know! Oh, Zoe, it's just so hard to think straight! I don't know whether I'm coming or going!" Tess put her head in her hands, not bothering to fight back the tears that were rushing to her eyes._

"_I know it's hard Tess… I know how difficult this must be for you… but you can't let this defeat you! Would you like some time off?" Zoe asked. Tess nodded is response, quickly taking a handkerchief from her pocket and wiping her eyes._

"_I'll give you __**both **__some time off… that way you can both decide what action you want to take. But don't hurry into a decision, ok?" Zoe sighed. It felt odd having to talk to a friend and colleague like that. Tess gave a weak smile and stood up._

"_And if you need to come and talk anymore, remember, I'll always be here." Zoe finished. She hugged Tess whom thanked Zoe for her time, and then left the room…_

Deciding that Fletch wouldn't be back yet, Tess sat down and began to tuck in to the breakfast that had been prepared for her. As she ate, she considered the options she had about her pregnancy…

On the other side of Holby, Fletch was sitting in his house at the dining table. Natalie had let him dry his hair and change into a fresh change of clothes which she hadn't packed when she sent him out the house after finding out that he'd cheated on her. Even if he had done something utterly wrong, she didn't have it in her heart to send him back in the rain when he'd clearly walked a long way to talk to her. He could've just picked up the phone, but he wanted to talk to her in person, which seemed quite genuine to accept how bad he felt.

She placed a steaming mug of coffee down on the surface of the dining table in front of Fletch, who thanked her and immediately started gulping down the drink. When he finished, he looked across at her and shook his head:

"I feel so bad Natalie, for what I've done. It's the worst thing a man could ever do… and… I can't understand what motivated me to do it in the first place, because I love you and the kids so much! I couldn't stop myself, and now I've created such a big mess and…" Fletch began, though the lump in his throat prevented him from continuing.

"What does she have that **I **haven't got?" Natalie asked. Fletch couldn't believe that Natalie just asked that question, and that was evident on his expression when he lifted his head. Tears were already seeping from his eyes, making them red and sore. His vision was blurry too.

"There isn't anything… Natalie… it just happened." Fletch managed to say.

"It just happened? What kind of answer is that Adrian?" Natalie raised her voice, as she began to see red.

"A true one." Fletch replied with gritted teeth.

"I can't believe you." Natalie growled.

"Well, you didn't exactly help did ya? Things haven't been right between us for a long time!" Fletch shouted, finally losing his cool.

"Well maybe that was your fault for sleeping with another woman!" Natalie countered.

"You only found that out days ago! We haven't been right for a good year, and you know it!" Fletch argued.

"That's got nothing to do with it! You should never have cheated on me! We are husband and wife for god's sake! We're supposed to stick with each other through thick and thin!" Natalie roared as she stood up. Fletch stood to and walked round the table to face her properly.

"How many times have you stuck by me? I have been the one to take care of the kids, despite how busy the hospital gets. How many time shave you looked after them? You've just hired some baby-sitter who doesn't know a thing about kids in the first place, while you go out shopping for some skimpy skirt or whatever it is you like to buy!" Fletch yelled. It was then that he felt the sting of a hard slap across his face. The house became silent after all the screaming and shouting, except for the clock quietly ticking in the background. Fletch felt blood trickling from his nose. Then he backed away. He could see Natalie was still in a rage- her expression resembled that. Carefully he walked out into the hall and watched as Natalie followed him. Then, as quickly as he could, he left the house.


	8. Chapter 8- Tension

Chapter 8: Tension:

Tess was now pacing up and down her hallway. Fletch had been gone over two hours, and her concern was increasing. She had tried to ring his mobile, but every single time she got his cheeky voice on the answer phone… his mobile was off. After a few more minutes, Tess couldn't take it any longer and decided to go and search for him herself.

Luckily, the dreary weather had eased. The rain had stopped pouring down, and the thick fog had lifted. The sun was just starting to peep from behind the breaking clouds. Tess checked every road, every shop and every alley-way until she came to the park and saw a figure sitting on the bench. As she got closer, she realised it was Fletch and relief rushed through her.

"There you are! I was getting worried about you!" Tess walked up to him and sat next to his slumping figure on the park bench. He just glanced to her in response, not wanting her to see his injury. He grunted slightly.

"Are you ok?" Tess asked, leaning forward.

"Mmm." was Fletch's response. Tess leant round, but Fletch turned away.

"Adrian… what's wrong?" Tess asked, trying to sound firmer in her tone. Fletch winced. Whenever he heard 'Adrian', all he could think of was his wife, and that then brought a rush of pain across his face, causing him to gasp slightly. Tess stood and moved in front of him. All she could see was his eyes peeking out from the hood he had over his head. She could see tears glazing over his normally bright and lively eyes. Gently, she placed her hand over the one he had over the lower half of his face and slowly moved it away. She gasped when she saw the amount of blood around his nose and in the palm of his hand. He had made no attempt to stop the bleed, which could have resulted in him passing out.

"Come on, let's go back to my house and we'll clean that up for you". She offered. For a moment, Fletch just sat still while he considered the option. Then shakily, he stood and followed Tess back to her house.

When they got inside, Tess told Fletch to grab a chair and sit by the sink whilst she got some tissues to help clean the blood from his face. It had dribbled all over his lips, which probably explained why he didn't want to say much- no one likes the taste of blood. Tess ran the tissue under some cool water before beginning to carefully wipe away some of the blood. Fletch found this soothing and relaxed a bit. Feeling the tension slowly fade away from his muscles, Tess decided to ask again:

"What happened?" She quickly removed the blood from his lips to stop the foul, sickening taste entering his mouth when he opened it to speak.

"I visited my wife, that's what happened." He grumbled.

"Natalie did this to you!?" Tess exclaimed, not realising that Fletch's wife was capable of such damage. Fletch nodded slowly. It was then, hat after cleaning up one of his cheeks entirely that Tess noticed a large purple bruise had formed. As carefully as she could, she stroked it with her fingertip. All the same, Fletch winced and took a sharp breath in.

"We…" Fletch gulped down the lump forming in his throat so he could speak properly… "We had a row. Natalie got angry and she… and she slapped me… hard." Fletch told Tess, feeling weak.

"Alright, ok, calm down Fletch!" Tess whispered. He was shaking and was suddenly very pale.

"But… what if she hurts the kids? I've got to do something Tess! I've got to!" Fletch cried. He felt Tess wrap her arms around him and he sobbed on her shoulder. Tess had never seen him so miserable and so weak. He was normally so cheerful and cheeky. This was starting to get incredibly serious!

"Should I phone the police?" Tess asked.

"No!" Fletch replied sharply.

"Why not? She's abused you Fletch!" Tess argued, "The only way to stop her is to talk to the police!"

"No, I brought it on myself. It's just payback." Fletch sniffed.

"Unless you're with your kids, how do you know they're safe?" Tess added. Fletch looked to her.

"She might hit me… but she wouldn't do that to the kids!" Fletch looked Tess in the eyes, showing her he was sure about that.

"But don't you think it would be safer for them?" Tess asked.

"Oh for goodness sake Tess! Just leave it ok?" Fletch snapped, annoyed. Hurt, Tess sighed and walked away.

"No! Tess please! I didn't mean it!" He pleaded after her. He jumped up from the stool he was sitting on and chased after her.

He found her lying on her side on her bed upstairs, her back facing the doorway. Fletch entered quietly.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, feeling guilty that he had upset her.

"It's fine." Tess mumbled in response, not bothering to face him. Fletch stood still for a moment. Then he cautiously moved forward and perched on the end of the bed.

"I don't know what to do Fletch." Tess suddenly broke the silence.

"What do you mean?" Confused, Fletch frowned slightly.

"About the baby." Tess sighed, "Do you think I should keep it?"

"Tess!" Fletch exclaimed.

"What?" Tess finally turned over to look at him.

"This is special! I know it's stressful at the moment but please don't have an abortion!" Fletch pleaded, "You're giving me a second chance!" He added.

"What do you mean a second chance?" Tess frowned slightly.

"Never mind, that doesn't matter, but please Tess! Keep it. For me." Fletch's eyes shined. He wanted this, and Tess could see that.

"Are you sure you want this?" Tess asked.

"Of course I do!" Fletch moved closer to Tess, lying down next to her. For a moment they just stared at each other, lying there peacefully.

"Why?" Tess broke the spell of silence, as she continued to stare at Fletch.

"…Because I love you…"


	9. Chapter 9- Love sickness

Chapter 9: Love sickness:

Tess's only response to Fletch's reply was to raise an eyebrow. However, it wasn't long before she was struggling to stifle a laugh. She couldn't stop herself, and laughter erupted from her lungs. She rolled around helplessly for a few moments and then calmed down. This was a very rare occurrence, and it pleased Fletch to see her like this, but he was being serious. Tess took a few deep breaths to compose herself. She looked back to Fletch who hadn't moved a muscle and was still gazing at her.

"You're serious?" Her happy expression soon faded.

"Yeah." Was Fletch's only reply, "Don't you want me to?" he asked, worried.

"No, no, I didn't mean it like that it's just… well… no ones said that to me for a long time!" Tess explained as she sat up.

"Well, I just did!" Fletch grinned cheekily and sat up too. Tess smiled shyly. She watched as Fletch winked at her before leaning in and pecking her on the lips. Tess wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her and the two shared a long, deep kiss…

The next morning, when Tess awoke, the first thing she noticed was that she wasn't alone. As she turned over, she met the face of a sleeping Fletch, snuggling into the pillow under his head. As she sat up and stretched, she smiled. For once, she did not feel queasy- a big relief. Looking at the clock, she notice that she'd awoken half an hour early, but all the same, got out of bed and quietly padded out of the room so she didn't wake Fletch.

A mile or so away, Natalie was getting breakfast ready for Mikey, Evey and Ella before she took them to school. Mikey was the first to walk down the stairs, smiling slightly. He eyed his Mum who hadn't even noticed his appearance. She was spreading jam on some toast, lost in her own thoughts. There were still tears in her eyes. Mikey lost his smile. Nothing was right anymore. He cleared his throat, and Natalie jumped back to reality.

"Morning Mum." Mikey mumbled.

"Morning Mikey! Are you okay?" Natalie asked, putting the butter knife down and turning round to hug her son.

"Yeah, I guess." Mikey replied, sighing as he shrugged his shoulders. He took his breakfast, thanked his Mum for making it, and then sat at the table nibbling the sides. It was then that the girls trudged downstairs. Both looked miserable. Ella hadn't brushed her hair, and her uniform was creased and untidy. Evey had tried to make an effort, but even she was lacking joy and energy.

"Morning Girls, what's up?" Natalie asked.

"Miss daddy." Evey mumbled. She had been crying, because her face was wet and blotchy. She was even holding her teddy bear, in hope he might make her feel better, but it had no such affect. Mikey winced, hoping their Mum would not become angry that they were missing their father. He noticed her jaw tighten, and her eyes narrow for a split second, but she kept her cool, took a deep breath and smiled.

"Daddy… I'm afraid Daddy is caught up with other things at the moment girls." Natalie replied, giving them each a hug.

"Now come on, have some breakfast!" She told them and handed them each a slice of toast on a plate.

Meanwhile, Fletch was just stirring. He groaned as the shrill beep of the alarm clock sounded and he whacked it hard to stop the noise, nearly causing the device to fly across the room. He opened his eyes and sighed. When he looked to the other side of the bed, he frowned to see no one was there. Then he swung his legs around, stood up and stretched, before making his way downstairs.

"Morning!" Tess didn't even turn around as she had already heard Fletch walk down the stairs.

"Morning!" He replied quite cheerfully.

"You're happy." Tess commented as she noticed Fletch's joyful mood. Fletch came up behind Tess and wrapped his arms around her.

"I had a good night that's why!" He replied cheekily.

"You had better mean from sleep!" Tess warned him.

"Of course that's what I meant! We didn't do anything anyway!" Fletch retorted, earning him a playful elbow in the ribs.

"Ooowwww!" He cried, comically holding his side and stumbling around as though he'd been stabbed. Tess chuckled at the sight of him.

"Now come on, it's great to se you so happy but we need to get ready for work!" Tess interjected.

"Spoil-sport." Fletch mumbled as though he was a little boy, though his sulky expression turned into a cheeky grin when he saw Tess raise an eyebrow at him. He walked forward and leant in for a kiss, but Tess turned away.

"Get changed." Tess almost ordered. Fletch sighed loudly.

"I'm going!" He told her before dashing upstairs to change into some casual wear.


	10. Chapter 10- Accident and Emergency

Chapter 10: Accident and Emergency:

"Get in the car for gods sake!" Natalie shouted at Evey who whimpered in response. She had tears in her eyes.

"But mummy, I don't feel very well! I don't want to go to school!" She sniffed.

"Well you've got to! I've got to go to work ok?" Natalie snapped before lifting Evey into the back of the car and strapping her in.

The car ride was very tense. No one spoke. The only noise that could be heard was little Evey sniffing every so often because she was upset and she genuinely felt ill. Ella put her arm round Evey to comfort her. Mikey sat in the front passenger seat with his arms folded. He was angry at his Mum for being horrible to his little sister, and for a moment, he wanted his Dad. Natalie seemed a bit dazed, deep in her own thoughts. She was still fighting between fury and depression of what Fletch had done. The kids were too young to understand though, and she had no one to turn to.

Suddenly, Mikey jumped out of his little sulking moment, looking terrified and screamed "Mum! Watch out!"

Natalie also jumped out of her thoughts and saw the car heading straight for them. Natalie slammed on the breaks but was too late, and the other car, which had honked its horn loudly, collided into them. The girls in the back screamed. Mikey managed to stay awake however when he looked to his Mum, she was unconscious, and there was blood on her face. He wanted to cry like his sisters were in the back of the vehicle, but realising he was the oldest and most responsible who was awake; he stopped himself from doing so. Carefully, he took his seatbelt off and winced at the pain in his arm and chest. Then he reached over and took his Mum's handbag before reaching for her mobile and dialling 999.

At Holby ED, Jeff and Dixie were sitting in the back of their ambulance.

"Have you noticed how weird Tess is behaving recently?" Jeff asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know she just… she just doesn't seem herself…" Jeff told Dixie. Their conversation however was cut short when the radio sounded.

"Control to 3006- over" Dixie picked up the radio.

"3006 received."

"RTC involving two cars on City Road." The voice replied. Dixie raised her eyebrows and then both Jeff and Dixie jumped into the front of the ambulance and drove toward the accident site.

Mikey was feeling weak and dizzy. He was struggling to keep his eyes open, but thanks to his sisters constant wailing, he was able to stay conscious. When he heard sirens in the distance he felt a little calmer and woke up a bit. As he looked in the rear-view mirror, he saw the electric blue flashing lights getting closer and closer. He knew that help was approaching and that they were safe so he allowed himself to fade into unconciousness.

As Jeff and Dixie pulled up close to the collision, they jumped out of the ambulance both holding a first aid bag and dashed to the cars.

"I'll go to this one, you go to the other." Jeff instructed and Dixie nodded. Jeff opened the back door of the silver car and was met by the petrified faces of Evey and Ella who were still screaming and wailing from the shock.

"Alright girls, ok, it's ok. I'm Jeff and I'm a paramedic, can you tell me your names?" He explained calmly. Ella managed to get a hold of herself and gulped down the tears before answering Jeff:

"I'm Ella, this is Evey, and then in the front is my elder brother… Mikey and our Mum." She managed to tell Jeff between gasps. Realisation spread over Jeff when he heard and recognised the names. This was Fletch's family.

"Alright sweetheart, we're going to get you out of here and then we're going to take you all to Holby City Hospital alright?" Jeff told Ella and Evey. He looked over to Dixie who had managed to get the single man out of the other car. She helped him get to the ambulance before sitting him down and instructing him to stay, then she ran over to Jeff. He turned to her.

"Dix, this is Fletch's family!" He exclaimed quietly. Dixie looked at the two panicked girls in the back, and then to the unconscious Mikey and Natalie in the front. She frowned worriedly.

"Right, we better get these guys in quick or he'll never forgive us." Dixie commented. She then radioed control and asked for another two ambulances to attend the scene.

"There's a serious RTC coming in, so I need all of you to be prepared." Zoe told the gathered team of Doctors and Nurses. Among the group were Tess and Fletch who nodded along with the rest. Zoe then walked away, and the small group of people quickly dispersed.

"I wonder what happened." Tess asked Fletch.

"I don't know, but it looks like it's going to be another stressful day ahead." Fletch replied, raising his eyebrows. He looked around to check no one was watching and then he moved slightly closer to Tess before whispering:

"You sure you're going to be ok? You don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"I'll be fine." Was Tess's reply, and they both walked off in different directions.

Meanwhile, all the casualties had been removed from the cars and the ambulances were now racing to the ED. Dixie was sitting in the back with the unconscious Natalie, and Ella. Ella was still frozen with fear and shaking like a leaf from the shock. She kept staring into space and not saying a word. Dixie decided that she should talk to her to try and calm her down a bit.

"She's going to be fine Ella." Dixie told the little girl.

"Yeah, she's going to be fine, but everything else isn't." Ella sniffed sadly. Dixie frowned.

"Well of course it is." Dixie told her.

"No, you don't understand." Ella shook her head, "I wished to see Daddy again, but I didn't want this to happen!" Ella cried then. Dixie was confused. What in the world was going on? She had a feeling something very bad was happening and Fletch had kept it to himself.

"Do you know my Daddy?" Ella asked suddenly.

"Yes, he's a good person, always helping people." Dixie smiled, "What do you mean you wanted to see him again anyway? Has he not been home?" Dixie asked, concerned.

"I haven't seen him for a week. Mummy and Daddy were shouting a lot, the door slammed. That was the last time we saw him." Ella explained quietly, her little face saddening, "Mummy said he has been working hard at the hospital so he can't come home." At this point, Dixie definitely knew that something wasn't right, but she hid her concern from the little girl so that she didn't deteriorate in anyway.

Meanwhile, in the other ambulance, Evey was causing Jeff grief. She really wasn't healthy at all, and the poor little girl had been sick twice. Mikey was there but he was still unconscious, wearing an oxygen mask like his mother was.

"Alright sweetheart, it's ok." Jeff told her calmly, although he turned his nose up at the smell.

"I'm sorry!" She blubbered as tears flew out of her eyes.

"Its ok sweetheart, don't you worry, we're nearly there and you'll feel better soon." He reassured her, although she still wailed from the shock and the pain. Jeff shook his head sympathetically. Like Dixie, he knew something wasn't right.

As the ambulances pulled up outside the ED, Zoe, Sam and Tom ran out to help the paramedics get the casualties inside the hospital. Jeff jumped out and signalled to the three doctors who rushed over.

"You might want to get Fletch treating some other patients." He whispered as the other paramedics got the trolleys out of the ambulances.

"Why?" Zoe exclaimed, unsure of why Jeff had suggested such an idea. Jeff looked to the family behind him before looking back to Zoe.

"Because they're his kids."

At this point, the dawning realisation on Zoe's face was evident by her expression. She looked to Sam and Tom whom nodded in agreement, and then the three of them burst back into action.

Unfortunately, Jeff's suggestion wasn't possible, because just as they were wheeling the two unconscious family members in, Fletch dashed up.

"What can I do to he- MIKEY?" Fletch's expression was of horror when he saw his son lying weak and pale on the trolley in front of him.

"We've got this handled Fletch if you want to continue treating the patients in cubicles." Zoe told him gently. Fletch then looked up and saw his two daughters- Ella was walking and Tom was carrying Evey in his arms. The other trolley went past revealing to Fletch that his whole family were injured. He was shocked and horrified. For a moment, he stood just frozen to the spot watching as his family went straight through the doors to resuscitation. Then he felt himself shaking and tears wet his eyes. His head spun making it hard for him to balance. Sam who had been talking to Dixie and Jeff saw Fletch and –realising he was about to pass out from the shock- ran over to her friend and colleague before helping him to stand up.

"Woah! Alright Fletch, come on!" Sam said loudly as she helped Fletch to keep his balance.

"It's my entire fault! It's my entire fault!" He whimpered like a little puppy as tears exploded from his eyes.

"No, Fletch… it's not your fault! How can it be? You weren't even there! This is the shock talking!" Sam protested, not understanding what he was talking about. Just then Zoe burst through the doors.

"Sam, we need you _now_!" She shouted. However Sam just gave her a funny look before tilting her head at Fletch. Zoe rolled her eyes and nodded before beckoning Jamie and Robyn into resus for the time being. Realising just how much her arms were hurting from helping to prop Fletch up, Sam slowly took the support away and hoped he wouldn't collapse straight after. Luckily he stayed standing. Sam sighed.

"Do you need someone to talk to?" Sam asked, although she did not receive a response. Fletch just stared straight ahead at the doors to resus.

"Fletch!" She raised her voice. This was when Fletch looked to her. Sam didn't ask again, she just sighed before beckoning Fletch to follow her.

Zoe had called Tess into resus to help, although when Tess found out who was in resus, it was the last place she wanted to be. Tom was treating Evey- as he was a paediatric specialist. Jamie and Robyn had taken Ella up to cubicles shortly after they discovered she was not seriously ill or injured. Lucky for Tess, she was examining Mikey- and not Natalie like she had feared.

"Ok, Mikey can you hear me?" She asked and she awaited a response. She thought she heard a slight mumble although with all the noise in resus it was hard to tell.

"Mikey, squeeze my hand if you can hear me." Tess instructed. Sure enough, she felt a slight pressure on her hand although it was quite weak.

"Good boy. Right, do you know where you are?" Tess asked. Mikey squinted as his eyes slowly opened. At first all he could see were extremely bright lights overhead. He removed the oxygen mask with a shaky hand momentarily before mumbling:

"Resus." Clearly, his Dad had taught him a lot about the hospital. The oxygen mask was placed back over his mouth and nose. Mikey closed his eyes and tried to ignore the pain throbbing through him.

Not too far away, Sam and Fletch were sitting at a small table in the staffroom. Despite not saying anything, Fletch was glad to have some company. He was also glad to be having a sweet tea after the shock he just had. Sam sat down opposite him with her own cup of tea. She looked across at the normally carefree joking person. It seemed strange to see him so desperately sad. Obviously, he would be anxious and sad because his whole family had just come into the ED, but still, something wasn't right. Normally, Sam didn't poke around in other people's business. She left the gossip work to the others like Robyn or Louise. This time however, she was determined to know what was going on.

"They'll be fine, you know." She started, breaking the tense silence. Fletch smiled as he placed his mug down.

"Yeah, I know, they're all strong." He replied, though his voice was still shaky. He fidgeted in his seat, but as he did, his face caught the light, and it was then that Sam noticed the angry bruise on his cheek. Perhaps that had been the reason he had been hiding away from pretty much everyone.

"Fletch, what happened to your face? How did you get that bruise?" Sam asked, very concerned.

"Oh it's nothing, don't you worry." Fletch replied and he stood up.

"No Fletch. Something isn't right, and it's not just me who's noticed. Almost everyone has picked up that you've not been your usual self!" Sam insisted and she stood up too. Fletch, being taller, looked down at his worried friend.

"It's fine." He told her again. Sam reached up and carefully touched where the bruise was. Everytime her fingertips touched the bruise, no matter how gentle she was, Fletch winced.

"You need to get that looked at." Sam told him. Fletch went to protest but Sam interjected just as he opened his mouth "And don't say it's fine because it clearly isn't!" With that, the two left the staff room and headed up to the cubicles.

When Natalie awoke, the atmosphere wasn't pleasant at all. As soon as she realised where she was, she became very agitated and stubborn.

"I don't want to be here!" She shouted at Zoe who was trying her absolute best to keep her calm for the children's sake.

"Well, I'm afraid you are here, and you've got to be because right now we don't know if the accident has caused you any harm." Zoe replied coolly.

"Fine! You're just doing your job! But as soon as you've all realised that I'm one hundred percent normal and perfectly healthy, I'm out of here!" Natalie snapped.

Everyone standing around Natalie or even in the room looked to one another, all seeing the mood that this lady was in.

It was then over the other side of the room that Evey sniffed before claiming quite loudly:

"I want Daddy." She looked like she was about to burst into tears again, and she slumped sadly. Tom who was half way through checking her over sighed. He looked at the little girl sympathetically. She was really suffering from something going on at home; it was affecting her physically and mentally. Tom couldn't help but feel suspicious. As he looked around at Zoe, Robyn, Jamie, Tess, Ash, Dixie and Jeff, he could see they could all tell something was wrong. Realising the little girl was looking up at him with her large brown eyes, Tom smiled.

"Don't you worry! You'll see him soon." He reassured her.

"But… I want to see him now!" Evey whined. Tom continued checking her over, listening to her breathing and the usual. Then he decided it was worth checking she had no obvious injuries. So he examined her for any bruises or grazes that could explain the reason she was so unhappy and unwell. As he did this he continued to talk to her.

"Well, if you let me check you over fully, I promise I'll take you straight to him." Tom replied.

"Really?" Evey asked excitedly.

"Yeah! I work with him, so I know where he'll be!" Tom grinned.

"I don't want her seeing Adrian!" Natalie screamed across the room, shocking everyone into silence. Evey sulked.

"Well I want to see Daddy! I miss him!" Evey retorted slightly angry.

"And I'm telling you, you're not going to!" Natalie shouted. At this point, little Evey couldn't hold her tears back any longer and they burst like a pipe under pressure. Tom took Evey in his arms and hugged her in an attempt to calm her down.

"It's ok. Ssh." Evey calmed down in a matter of seconds. Tom looked around. Noticing that Natalie still had a collar on so she couldn't turn her head, he disobeyed her request and took Evey out of Resus.

In the cubicles, Sam had put on some medical gloves as Fletch sat down on a spare bed. She turned and shined a torch across Fletch's eyes as she examined them.

"Your pupils are dilated, so something's upsetting you." She told him. Fletch couldn't help but smile at her discovery.

"I knew being friends with an army doc was a bad idea." He grinned. Sam gave him a sarcastic smile before looking closer at the large purplish bruise that had formed on the side of his face.

"Well, you got hit hard however this happened." Sam stared at the angry colours on Fletch's cheek.

"Some of the blood vessels have swollen where the impact was at its most power. I suggest a course of antibiotics to reduce the pain and help to rapidly enable to bruise to heal." Sam sighed; stepping away and removing the medical gloves form her hands. Fletch smiled before nodding in thanks to his friend and attempted to make a hasty exit, but Sam grabbed hold of his scrubs sleeve and pulled him back into the cubicle.

"What happened Fletch? I'm not asking you this as your friend anymore, I'm asking you this question because it's my job and I have to." Sam insisted as she stared into Fletch's watery eyes.

"I can't tell you." He snivelled, looking away.

"Fletch. What, happened?" Sam questioned sounding firmer in her tone. Fletch decided he really wasn't going to get away. He thought about lying; maybe bending the truth a little, but because he knew how wise Sam was and that she could often tell if someone was lying, he decided against it. He stayed silent for a moment, working out how he was going to word the situation without making it sound worse that it had been. He didn't want to have to go into detail about the fact he was having an affair with Tess… actually, he didn't want to bring it up at all, but he knew he had to.

"Ok, well… you are not going to believe what I have to say because part of it was my fault anyway and it is shocking so…" Fletch stalled.

"Just, tell me!" Sam interjected her patience fading.

"Ok." Fletch sighed. Then he began to explain how his marriage for Natalie had been pretty bad for at least a year and that was why he started to have an affair.

"You had an affair?" Sam practically screamed.

"Ssh!" Fletch was desperate to keep her quiet.

"Who with?" Sam asked stepping closer so that he could whisper; she could see he really didn't want to tell her this information. Fletch hesitated.

"Tess." After he told her this, Sam was stunned with the shock. Then she started picking up the pieces. When she and Tom had announced their engagement to Zoe, Tess and Fletch, the atmosphere in the office had felt awkward and tense. It would also explain why Fletch would come into work one day extremely happy and the next the complete opposite.

"So, you still haven't explained how you injured your face." Sam shook her head. She was now seeing why gossip was so addictive to everyone else in the ED.

"Natalie found out. She chucked me out, so I went to live with Tess, but I felt I needed to go back and explain myself and try and sort things out. But I only made things worse and… she…" Fletch paused as he felt the sting of the slap on his face again. He could hear her desperate and angry voice saying things inside his head.

"She hit me."


	11. Chapter 11- Confusion

Chapter 11: Confusion

After Fletch had revealed everything to Sam, he couldn't keep the protective wall up anymore and he began to cry- a lot. Sam always found it difficult to deal with the emotional side of patients, however perhaps because Fletch had been such a good friend to her, she felt that maybe just this once she could comfort him. He sat back down on the bed as he cried uncontrollably. It was a mixture of guilt; sadness and shock that was causing Fletch to do this and he could honestly say this was the weakest he had ever felt in his entire life. Sam allowed herself to hug Fletch and she felt the warmth from his tears seep through her scrubs. After about 15 minutes of this, Fletch managed to control his emotions again. He didn't realise he'd been hugging Sam back. She leant back, but they still had their arms around each other. At this point they both felt incredibly awkward. If that wasn't bad enough, it was then that the curtain to the cubicle was pulled open and Tom peeped inside. He looked horrified at what he saw before him.

"Tom! Tom, it's not what it looks like!" Sam explained quickly as she let go of Fletch and ran up to Tom. Fletch jumped up from the bed.

"I promise you mate, I wasn't doing anything with Sam, I was really shocked from seeing my whole family come in here from the RTC and she was just looking after me!" Fletch insisted, praying Tom would believe him- this was all he needed on top of everything else. Tom's eyes skipped between Sam and Fletch.

"If she was just looking after you, what were you both doing in a cubicle?" Tom asked suspiciously, his teeth slightly gritted. Sam hoped Tom would keep his cool.

"If you must know Tom, Fletch's wife abused him and…" Sam stopped when she noticed Evey hiding behind Tom. Even though Tom didn't hear Sam finish her sentence, he realised he had made a completely unfair and false accusation. It was then that he too noticed the injury on Fletch's face.

"Ah. Sorry, I just… well you both have to admit it did look a bit… wrong." Tom apologised, scratching his head. He was trying not to say anything too bad in front of Evey- she was only an innocent 5 year old after all.

"Daddy?" The little girl walked from behind Tom. She was sure she heard her father's voice. Fletch looked down and saw his little girl.

"Evey!" He smiled happily, and tears wet his eyes again (These were happy tears though).

"Daddy! Missed you!" Was Evey's response as a bright smile lit up her face. Fletch picked her up and hugged her close.

"Oh sweetheart. I'm so sorry about what's happened." Fletch told his little girl who snuggled up to him.

"Thank you." Fletch mouthed to Tom. Sam and Tom smiled in response before walking away.

"His wife abused him?" Tom whispered to Sam once they were both out of earshot.

"That's what Fletch told me, and by the look of the angry bruise on his face I'd definitely say he was telling the truth!" Sam replied.

"That would explain why Natalie wanted to get out of here as soon as possible…" Tom trailed off.

"Did you check Evey over fully?" Sam suddenly asked.

"What?"

"Did you check Evey over fully? I mean… did you see any bruises or cuts?" Sam asked.

"No, nothing like that. I still don't understand why Natalie would abuse Fletch for no reason at all though. It just doesn't make sense!" Tom shook his head as he frowned. Sam said nothing. She knew Fletch wanted to keep his affair as secret as possible for as long as he could- it would be unfair to spread the gossip that she now knew. So instead she shrugged her shoulders before saying:

"It's your guess as much as mine!"

Fletch cuddled his youngest child close. It felt great to see her again. He'd always been very family-orientated, so his children were the most important thing to him in the world. He noticed the dark shadows under Evey's eyes- something very unusual to see on a child of her age.

"Have you not been getting any sleep?" He asked concerned.

"No. I'm tired." Evey replied as she yawned before adding, "Not feeling very well".

"What's wrong?" Fletch asked.

"Been icky." Evey replied sadly, but she smiled again as she hugged her Father again, snuggling up to him. Fletch frowned worriedly, but Evey did not see this as she had her head buried in his chest.

"Well, Daddy's here now, so everything's going to be alright." Fletch simply told her. However everything wasn't going to be alright, because as Fletch lifted his head he saw Natalie walking moodily toward a cubicle. She went to enter, but then her head shot round and she stared at Fletch. She gritted her teeth; her eyes narrowed as though she was a cat stalking its prey. Fletch held Evey tighter as he tried to protect her. Before anyone could stop her, Natalie stormed over the ward.


	12. Chapter 12- Fight

Chapter 12: Fight.

"I thought I made it perfectly clear I didn't want any of _my _children near _him!_" Were the first words that came out of Natalie's mouth as she approached Fletch threateningly. Fletch put Evey down and she walked behind her Dad and hid there, only peeping from behind his legs every so often.

"Give her to me Fletch." Natalie hissed.

"No." Fletch answered sternly.

"I said give her to me!" Natalie ordered. The ward had gone silent. Other patients had got out of their beds and pulled open the curtains around the individual cubicles to get a better look at what was going on.

"I haven't seen any of the kids for over a week! They wanted to see me! Can't you see that?" Fletch argued quietly, trying not to cause a scene. He felt Evey grasping the material of the scrubs on the back of his leg, indicating she was scared.

"I don't care! If you had never cheated on me in the first place none of this would have happened!" Natalie screamed. Some of the doctors and nurses and other hospital staff who had gathered gasped in shock. Fletch sighed.

"Oh please! You didn't tell your friends?" Natalie laughed mockingly. Fletch bowed his head.

"Your Colleague, this man if he even is one, he's cheated on me! Now, what was her name?" Natalie turned around, making the announcement clear to everyone who was standing around them. She didn't even have to try to remember the name of the woman Fletch was having an affair with. It had been circling in her head since she had found out. Fletch walked forward.

"No Natalie!" He pleaded in a whisper.

"Oh that's right! Who's Tess?" Her eyes searched the crowd. At this point, a small murmur slowly travelled through the group as they all gasped again. Their heads slowly turned round to reveal the one person Natalie was trying to seek out. Everyone stepped aside, still stunned with shock. Tess gulped and she too bowed her head.

"You! You're Tess?" Natalie asked, horrified. Tess just nodded. Natalie turned back to Fletch.

"You son of a…" Natalie began but it was then that Tom and Sam dashed over and grabbed hold of Natalie in an attempt to restrain her.

"Get off me!" Natalie struggled. Evey began to cry. She didn't understand a thing that was going on. Fletch picked her up in an attempt to comfort her.

"Daddy… I don't feel very well!" She moaned. Fletch, realising what Evey meant, grabbed a bed pan and dashed into one of the cubicles.

Natalie continued to struggle. This was the only sound that could be heard through the silent room. As Tess looked around, she could see that everyone looking at her were either shaking their heads, or looking disappointed at her. She dropped her head in shame and left the ward.

Natalie broke free from Tom and Sam's grasp. Sam ran and tried to grab her again, but Natalie wasn't having it and pushed her over. Sam hit the floor with a loud thump. Tom ran to her side.

"Sam!" He exclaimed, "Are you ok?" He asked as he helped his fiancée to get to her feet.

"Yeah, just a bit shaken up that's all."

It was then that they both realised Natalie had ran into the cubicle where Fletch had taken Evey. There was some muffled arguing which could just be heard under the noise of Evey crying.

"Mummy! Daddy stop!" She pleaded.

"Nat, please stop, you're scaring her! No wonder she ain't feeling well!" Fletch spoke calmly.

"Can't you see? You cheated on me! You have no right to tell me what to do, and you have no right to see your kids anymore!" Natalie replied coldly.

"And that gives you the right to tell me what to do?" Fletch asked his voice getting louder as he felt the anger boiling up inside him. Knowing she was wrong, Natalie's only move was to kick Fletch in a very painful place, grab Evey and run for it. Natalie actually mis-judged and aimed higher than she had planned and actually kicked Fletch in the stomach. He fell to the floor winded as he clutched his stomach from the pain.

"Someone go after her!" Sam ordered. Tom, being the paediatrician, was the first to react to this instruction and ran in the direction that Natalie had run to. He was followed closely by Noel, Big Mac and Jamie.

Sam and Zoe both entered the cubicle where Fletch lie injured.

"Fletch! Fletch can you hear me?" Sam asked, although Fletch's vision was blurred and his hearing was silenced from the shock. Seeing that she wasn't getting a response, Sam jumped up.

"Can we get a trolley in here please!" She shouted, and two of the doctors in the crowd brought a trolley over. Some other staff gathered to help Sam and Zoe lift Fletch on the trolley.

"Resus?" Sam questioned. Zoe looked at Fletch for a moment then nodded her head.

Meanwhile, Natalie was pelting down the halls of the ED. She couldn't believe what she'd just done. She ran anywhere that she could, through hallways, wards, anywhere. All the time Evey was struggling against her and wailing. This aided Tom and the other three to track where Natalie was running to.

"How are we going to stop her though?" Jamie asked Tom, as he seemed to be the leader. Tom thought for a moment as they continued to run.

"I don't know, back her into a dead end and try and talk some sense into her?" Tom suggested.

"Are there any dead ends?" Jamie asked.

"Well yeah there's the…" Big Mac began. Then they all saw they'd caught her up. When she saw them, she slithered into the ladies toilets.

"…toilets" the other three finished.

"We can't go in there!" Jamie exclaimed innocently when he saw Tom heading to do so.

"Jamie, if it's an emergency, we can!" Was Tom's reply before he went inside. The other three men just stood there.

"Don't worry son, I think he's been in there more times than you think!" Big Mac quipped inappropriately. Noel stifled a laugh and when Jamie picked up on what Big Mac was saying he couldn't help but grin sheepishly too.

Tom crept inside. He really hoped there weren't any other ladies in there, because otherwise he'd get mobbed until he backed out again. It seemed luck was on his side.

"Natalie. Natalie, its Tom." He began calmly, "I'm a paediatrician. You know that means I'm trained in children's health and well-being don't you?" He listened and he heard her mumble a very quiet 'yes'. Tom sighed.

"Evey isn't very well. She's been sick and we need to check her over to find out what's made her ill." Tom continued. He thought about what to say next, and how to word it carefully.

"I understand that what Fletch has done…"

"Adrian!" Natalie interjected.

"I understand what Adrian has done is quite unforgiveable, and that he never should have done it, but you can't let that affect Evey's health." Tom reasoned. He heard her shuffle slightly, and the latch to one of the cubicles clicked indicating she had unlocked it. Slowly- extremely slowly- the door opened and Natalie padded out. Her face was sodden with tears. She still clung onto Evey defensively though.

"You need to know how guilty Adrian feels. It's obvious to us all. He didn't want to hurt you; neither did Tess or anyone else for that matter. But you need to give me Evey!" Tom told her softly. Slowly, Natalie loosened her tight grip on her youngest daughter and held her arms out so that Tom could take the little girl from her.

"Alright, there we go. Come on, I'll get Big Mac to get you a cup of tea." Tom told Natalie. He held Evey with one hand and patted Natalie gently on the back with the other.

When he finally emerged, Big Mac, Noel and Jamie looked ready to pounce, but a single warning glance from Tom told them all they needed to know and they relaxed. Big Mac walked up to Natalie,

"Come on, we'll make you a nice cuppa tea to calm you down." Big Mac reassured her and they walked in the opposite direction. Tom rushed Evey to resus because she had gone extremely pale and was clearly fighting to stay awake.

"Ok Evey, it's going to be alright sweetie." Was all Tom could really say as he ran back down the stairs and into resus. He received a small round of applause as he entered but he did not acknowledge this; his only concern was working out what was wrong with Evey.

"What's going on?" Fletch stirred as his vision began to become clearer and his hearing returned.

"You remember anything?" asked Sam.

"I remember getting one hell of a kick in the gut, that's for sure!" Fletch winced, "Where's Nat?" He asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, Tom sorted it." Zoe smiled as she examined Fletch's eyes with the medical torch. Sam looked over to Tom who was still checking Evey over. When Tom looked up she nodded and gave a small smile. He smiled back briefly and returned his attention to Evey. He could see no obvious reason why Evey was ill, so Tom decided after thoroughly examining her, it was due to the fact she was tired and stressed from the events over the past week.

"Fletch do you have any pain anywhere?" Zoe asked as she ripped open the scrubs to take a look at his stomach where he'd been kicked.

"Stomach, but that's expected." Fletch replied, "How's the kids?"

"Just tired and stressed really." Tom replied, "And Mikey might have fractured his wrist from the accident but other than that I would say they're pretty strong." Tom smiled reassuringly.

"What about Nat?" Fletch asked.

"We just got her blood results back. She has a high blood pressure which would explain the angry outbursts. Mixed with her mental state of what she's going through it can make her quite violent as you would know." Sam explained.

"I told you it was my entire fault." Fletch replied as he winced when Zoe touched a particularly sensitive spot where he'd been kicked.

"Well, it looks like you've been quite lucky because she could have caused you a lot of damage but it seems she just winded you and has caused this nasty bruise on your stomach. Other than that I'd say you're in good health." Zoe told him, "So we're going to take some bloods just to double check and then we're going to transfer you to cubicles." Zoe told him.

"But I'll be fine! I don't need to go to…"

"You're going to cubicles and that's that." Zoe told him.


	13. Chapter 13- Decision Time

Chapter 13: Decisions:

Fletch sat in a bed in the cubicles. He felt bad. Someone might need this bed, and here he was sitting in it just because he'd been winded from getting kicked in the stomach. Bored, he twiddled his thumbs and sighed out loudly. He thought about how out of control Natalie had behaved. Instead of feeling angry, he felt sympathetic for her and guilty. He knew the very fact he'd cheated on her would have upset her mentally, and now he knew she had high blood pressure, he understood why sometimes she blew hot and cold. Fletch couldn't even think about what would happen if Natalie found out that he'd got Tess pregnant. After it circled his brain a few times, he wondered why he had been happy about it in the first place. He already had three beautiful kids who loved him very much no matter what he had done. Did he really want a fourth child? He was only just managing to support the three he already had. But then what about Tess? He couldn't just leave her, not now.

As if on cue, some footsteps walked up to his cubicle and Tess slipped inside. She smiled sadly at him.

"I've been thinking…" She began.

"So have I." Fletch interjected. Tess lifted her head to look him in the eye.

"I can't…" Tess gulped slightly, maybe trying to stop a lump from forming in her throat, "I can't stay with you, and I can't expect you to stay with me either." She finished. Fletch thought about a good response.

"I was kind of, thinking that myself." He sighed, not looking at Tess as he scratched his head.

"What are you going to do about… you know…" Fletch asked.

"Well I'm not sure now. I could keep it but it wouldn't be fair on anyone. We both have to work long hours and you already have three kids." Tess told him. Fletch nodded.

"I wish there was another way Tess. I really do. Are you sure about a termination though?" Fletch swung his legs around so he was sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Actually, I know it doesn't seem very fair for the baby and if Tom finds out he'll try and persuade me out of my decision, but I'm going to have it and then give it up for adoption." Tess smiled slightly as she walked up to Fletch and stood in front of him.

"Well… at least it gets to live I guess." Fletch smiled.

"So are we… over now?" Tess asked, already knowing what the answer would be.

"I think it would be best." Fletch answered, "I'm sorry."

"No, it's my fault as much as yours. I should have seen sense and said 'no'." Tess admitted.

"Alright. But we're still friends right?" Fletch wanted to know if they had to avoid each other from now on to avoid rumours spreading.

"Of course. Just no more nights out at the pub…"

"… Stealing a quick kiss…" Fletch added, grinning as he put his arms around Tess.

"…Sneaking around to my place…" Tess stifled a giggle as she leant closer to Fletch.

"… Or anything else." Fletch raised his eyebrows flirtatiously and then they both tilted their heads for one last kiss. Neither of them wanted to pull away so they kissed until they had to break apart for some air. Tess smiled sadly before leaving the cubicle. Fletch watched. He knew he was making the right choice, but he couldn't help but feel sad. He did still have hidden feelings for Tess- he'd just have to fight against them until he won…


	14. Chapter 14- Apologies

Chapter 14: Apologies

It took Fletch a while to walk to Natalie. One reason being that when he had fell after she had kicked him, he had hit the ground awkwardly and had a nasty bruise making his ankle swell causing him to limp. Another reason being, he was scared if he was making a bad decision. Eventually, he made it to the ED staff room where Zoe had told everyone that no one was to enter until Natalie and Fletch had discussed their 'problem'. This didn't stop Sam from hiding around the corner outside… just in case.

As the door opened, Natalie turned in her seat and her eyes met her husbands. She was looking calmer and like she had regretted everything. Fletch knew the same emotions could be seen in his eyes. He closed the door so that their conversation couldn't be heard by anyone before turning back to his wife.

"Nat… I…" He began.

"No Adrian. Listen to me first. I never should have acted so violent and horrible. Even if you did what you did, the actions I carried out were extremely un-called for, and I want you to know that I feel awful that I did that to you." Natalie sniffed. There were tears in her eyes, and as she looked up to Fletch, he could see that her words were genuine.

"Thank you. But I need you to know that Tess and me… we've ended it. My actions were also uncalled for, because you are the most amazing woman ever Nat and I wish I could go back in time and change what happened. But I can't. However Tess and me have ended it and unless it is about work, we have decided that we're not going to talk much anymore." Fletch grovelled. Nat gave a small smile before standing up and walking over to Fletch. Fletch felt his muscles tense slightly. She stood right in front of him and breathed in like she was going to say something. Natalie didn't. Instead she leant close to Fletch and pecked him on the lips. Fletch closed his eyes and smiled. He could barely remember the last time they had kissed. It felt good. So he leant down and they began to get passionate.

It could have gone further, _a lot further_, but Zoe knocked at the door and marched in. Fletch parted from Natalie and turned, trying to look as innocent as possible but Zoe had seen and just raised an eyebrow at him before saying,

"So has everything been sorted now?"

Fletch and Natalie looked to one another and then nodded.

"Good." Zoe smiled and left. Fletch grinned at his wife before wrapping his arms around her and kissing her once more.

They didn't see half of Fletch's colleagues standing outside the staff room watching and giggling. Except Tess. Tess was no where to be seen. She was hiding in her office feeling upset. As bad as it sounded, she had really loved Fletch with his practical jokes and cheeky manner. She slumped in her chair with her arms folded resting on her desk. There was nothing to take her mind off of the events either. It had been one of the unusual quiet days in the ED. So she was sat in her office doing paperwork on her own with hardly anything else to think about. A single tear ran down her cheek as she realised that she really wouldn't see Fletch anymore. Then she realised her hand had been gently sitting on her stomach… she hadn't been a mother in so long. She had started to reconsider not giving the baby up for adoption… possibly settling down… but now it was definite the baby wouldn't have a father around her mind had drifted back to her first idea of having an abortion. Her youngest child was already in her twenties anyway. What would she think? Tess was sure her daughter would be horrified if she ever found out about the affair. So for that moment, the paperwork became forgotten and Tess found herself thinking about the baby once more. All the possibilities circled her head like cars on a race track. It had to be one of the most difficult decisions she could make…

**Sorry for not updating this story in a while guys! X**


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